HELP - Should we cancel our cycle???

Second scan in our 1st IVF cycle today and doctor suggested we consider cancelling our cycle/converting to IUI. Not sure what to do

On Thursday there were 8 visible follicles and the prediction was we would have 5 that could be retrieved. Today I have 6 visible folliciles, biggest ones are 20mm, 16mm, 16mm and 11mm (rest are under 11). Doctor was saying that in all likelihood only the biggest 3 would be mature enough for EC on Wednesday and because of that we should consider cancellation (go follie 4 go).

Took some more stims home with us until we can speak to our regular specialist on Monday, keen for your advice in the meantime. I'm trying to work out whether 3 follicles is actually that bad for us given our situation and whether we could expect better numbers for a new cycle or change in protocol. If its pretty much the best we can expect anyway then we may go ahead.

I'm 32 and and we conceived our 2 year old daughter naturally. Since my cycle returned I've had a short luteal phase (8-10 days) and we've been ATTC for 17 cycles (3 with clomiphene. My AMH is 1.4 and FSH is 6.3. Hubby has 2% morphology so we were planning on ICSI.

We're on CD 11 of an Antagonist cycle (Elonva on day 2 and and daily Puregon at 300 from CD9). EC if we go ahead will be CD15. No supplements taken.

Comments (21)

You aren't to far off from me, similar numbers, 2% morph as well. I had about the same response on the antagonist protocol, lower follicles, but also discordance since i wasnt suppressed enough. We converted to IUI since it was our first, and we thought we may have a better response on a different protocol. We didn't have that much invested in that cycle though, a lot of our meds were sampled to us since my insurance was taking their time with prior auth. So we only lost about $1k in monitoring costs.

Got a much better response on long lupron, but abysmal fertilization rate with icsi.

That said, has to be your call. My doc said we could do what we wanted, but if I were her sister, she would tell her to cancel and convert. And if you have a similar response on the next cycle, you know that's probably about the best you're going to get.

That's a tough one. In my Ivf cycle I only had 5 follicles, which produced 4 eggs. All fertilized and 3 made to day 5 blasts. We transferred 2 and both implanted. I lost one at 8 weeks but I'm much older - 41 at the time - so it wasn't too surprising. I did a minimal stimulation cycle though so we expected fewer follicles. I definitely recommend that protocol for people with DOR. That approach is also less costly so if you have to convert to iui it isn't as much of a loss.

Good luck to you. Remember it only takes one and you never know what is going to happen.

We're paying completely ourselves so a high financial commitment. Part of me thinks paying an extra $7k (for IVF/ICSI over IUI) makes more sense in another cycle where we've tweaked things and know the number of eggs is the best we can get. On the other hand I think we'll, be emotionally over doing IVF before the money (or rather extending our mortgage) runs out anyway.

What I am worried about now is whether waiting to Wednesday risks overcooking one of the potential three anyway (was at 20mm on Sat and had grown from 12mm on Thurs). If we only have 3 and one is overcooked then that probably makes the decision for us.

Interested to hear comments about when to trigger when there aren't many follicles ...

I have DOR with AMH of 0.21 and FSH of 16.5. I'm 32. I was also in the antagonist protocol and only had 4 follies of which we had 3 mature eggs and only 1 fertilized (which we were told was due to "bad luck" bc DH's sample was awesome!) anyways we did a 3dt and we are currently 8w3d pregnant so all it takes is ONE! They wanted to cancel me and I begged to keep going and good thing I did! In my opinion do not cancel! You never know if this cycle has that 1 you need to meet your sweet baby....good luck!

Hi there! I'm almost the same schedule as you, just a few days behind. I also have secondary infertility and DOR. My son is almost 3.5 yrs old and conceived naturally after about 2 months. Currently on CD 12 of my first IVF antagonist cycle. I have about 5 or 6 follicles on my left, nothing on my right. They are only about 9-12 mm, so they are having me stim longer. They said the minimum was 4 follicles to proceed, so I'm barely making it. Like Heather said though, it just takes one egg!

I'm paying out of pocket too, so I understand you want to get the most out of your cycle. My egg retrieval will be either Thurs or Fri. Thinking good thoughts for us!

Hi there! I'm almost the same schedule as you, just a few days behind. I...

Posted
07/21/2014

Hi there! I'm almost the same schedule as you, just a few days behind. I also have secondary infertility and DOR. My son is almost 3.5 yrs old and conceived naturally after about 2 months. Currently on CD 12 of my first IVF antagonist cycle. I have about 5 or 6 follicles on my left, nothing on my right. They are only about 9-12 mm, so they are having me stim longer. They said the minimum was 4 follicles to proceed, so I'm barely making it. Like Heather said though, it just takes one egg!

I'm paying out of pocket too, so I understand you want to get the most out of your cycle. My egg retrieval will be either Thurs or Fri. Thinking good thoughts for us!

LOTS OF LUCK! Keep me posted..you never know ...1 of those 4 could be the ONE!! :)